How will you remember 2012? Olympic fuss, union flag bunting, Roy Hodgson at the Euros? Chances are, if you are a fashion fan, then you may remember it as the year you finally got your hands on a deconstructed Margiela jacket for about a hundred quid.

Yesterday, H&M announced news of its latest one-off collaboration with Parisian conceptual label Maison Martin Margiela. News spread fast and shoppers entered reminders for 15 November – the launch date – into their phones. This, despite the fact that there are no design details about the collaboration other than the fact that it will include womenswear, menswear and accessories. So far, both parties have trumpeted their love of democratic fashion as justification for their upcoming autumn fling.

Unconventional Margiela will be the 12th collaboration for the Swedish brand, not counting ongoing celebrity dealings it has had with David Beckham and Madonna. H&M may not have invented the designer tie-in (thanks, Topshop) but it certainly owns it. Its slightly-more-than-annual collaborations, which began with Karl Lagerfeld in 2004, are now defining the past decade in terms of high-street trends in the way that Kate Moss's outfits once did for fashion fans. Remember the summer of 2003, when Kate wore that yellow dress, still at the time by the side of Johnny Depp? Or the Glastonbury festival, when she first did the Hunters and hotpants look? For the shopping-minded, these moments provided memory markers in the same way that World Cup host countries might for sports fans.

But now, it's H&M moments that have stolen Moss's mojo as clothing memory markers. The 2005 Stella McCartney collaboration came at the moment when we all began craving a mannish jacket. Lanvin's frilled silk one-shoulder dresses came two years ago, when you were no one if you didn't go to a party in a cocktail number. Versace's collection last year came post-Lady Gaga, when fashion was getting keen on the concept of too much.

Even the launch events speak volumes. Four years ago, when Comme des Garçons did its collaboration, it was about queues and crushes. Now, the launches are more organised. Queueing fans are given wristbands indicating timed shopping slots and are treated to in-store appearances from the designer. Such organisation underlines H&M's undisputed ownership of the high-street collaboration: they have become genuine fashion moments that everyone can be part of, should they want to.